Graphic warning on tobacco products soon

The state directorate of health services will issue a notification on the matter next week, a health department official said and added that a meeting has been convened on Monday to find out why deadline was missed.TNN | April 18, 2016, 10:33 IST

All states were asked to implement the order by then but Assam missed the deadline.GUWAHATI: The state government has decided to enforce a rule that makes 85% pictorial and textual warning on both sides of tobacco product packets mandatory.

In an affidavit before the Rajasthan high court, the Union health ministry said the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014, which includes the provision of big pictorial warnings, will come into effect from April 1 this year. All states were asked to implement the order by then but Assam missed the deadline.

The state directorate of health services will issue a notification on the matter next week, a health department official said and added that a meeting has been convened on Monday to find out why deadline was missed.

While some officials said the notification could not have been issued when the election model code of conduct was in force in the state, others said the ministry has extended its deadline by another 60 days.

"There has been a miscommunication. When I spoke to the joint secretary of the Union health ministry, he flatly denied knowing anything about a 60-day grace period. A meeting has been convened tomorrow (Monday) to find out why the pictorial warning rule was not implemented," the official said.

The nodal officer of the state tobacco control cell, Arundhati Deka, said, "There is too much confusion on why the April 1 deadline hasn't been implemented. There needs to be proper clarification from the government."

Meanwhile, retailers and wholesalers of tobacco products in Jorhat district told the district tobacco control cell that it would follow the coverage norms.

Bhaktimay Bhattacharyya, nodal officer of Jorhat District Tobacco Control Cell, who led a strong anti-tobacco campaign that resulted in six villages in the district being declared tobacco-free, said, "The message from dealers is positive. Some of them have assured us that they will follow the 85% warning rule. Now 10 villages in Jorhat are on the verge of being declared tobacco-free."

In 2011, the total number of new cancer cases in Assam was 23,629. According to estimations, there could be a total number of 80,919 prevalent (old and new cases) cancer cases by 2026.